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Arnold Palmer had Orlando, Florida, and the Bay Hill Club and Lodge. Byron Nelson had his beloved Dallas-Fort Worth community. Jack Nicklaus has Columbus, Ohio, and the Muirfield Village Golf Club. Tiger Woods has Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.
Now Phil Mickelson has La Quinta.
Palmer served as host of a PGA Tour event at the Bay Hill club where he lived, an event that still bears his name. Nelson grew up in Fort Worth and was a long-time host of a Tour event in Dallas. Nicklaus and Woods also host PGA Tour events in cities and at golf courses that are important to their paths to golf greatness.
While the immediate connection for Mickelson to the Coachella Valley might not be as obvious to the average golf fan, Mickelson’s new role as host of the 61st American Express golf tournament in the desert puts him in the same company as the other Hall of Famers and major championship icons.
“American Express asked that myself and my foundation take on a bigger role. The PGA Tour asked that we take on a bigger role,” Mickelson said. “My wife, Amy, and I have decided that this is the right fit, and we want to have a more direct involvement in the charitable support and contributions here in the valley.”
Mickelson, a 44-time winner on the PGA Tour including five major championships, becomes the third full-time host of the desert’s PGA Tour event that began in 1960. Bob Hope famously hosted the event from 1965 through his last appearances at the event in 2000. Comedian George Lopez hosted the tournament in 2007 and 2008. Arnold Palmer served as a host in 2009, but only for the one year, the tournament’s 50th playing.
Now comes Mickelson, the 49-year-old star who won the desert’s tournament in 2002 and 2004. But Mickelson’s role as host isn’t a complete surprise. Since the 2017 tournament, Mickelson has served as the ambassador for the event, a role that was more behind the scenes than his new hosting role. In essence, Mickelson’s role was to talk up the tournament and its early season benefits to his fellow players.
“My role has been get the message out on why and how this tournament is the best place to start the year because we have perfect weather, which is why the courses are by the mountain,” Mickelson said. “So we don’t have wind, so that we give the players a chance to build a foundation for the upcoming year.”
Now, with American Express coming to the tournament as the new title sponsor with a five-year commitment, Mickelson felt ready to expand his own role.
“Now we have the partner that we want to bring it to a whole other level,” Mickelson added.
A desert connection for Mickelson
For many fans, Mickelson might not be the obvious choice to host a tournament in the Coachella Valley. He grew up in San Diego, where he still lives, and remains a large figure in Arizona golf, having played collegiately at Arizona State and having won his first PGA Tour event at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open in Tucson as an amateur.
But the Coachella Valley has been an important area for Mickelson’s career as well. He won an American Junior Golf Association event at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage in 1988. By 1993, he was on the PGA Tour and playing in the Bob Hope.
At times, Mickelson’s relationship has been up and down at the tournament. After missing five years from 1995 to 1999. Mickelson became more established in the tournament, including dramatic playoff wins in 2002 and 2004.
Despite another four-year gap in playing the event starting in 2008, his local play has included a fifth-place finish in 2006, a third in 2016 and a nail-biting runner-up finish in 2019, where he lost the title to Adam Long when Long birdied the final hole at the Stadium Course at PGA West.
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Toss in some appearances in the old Skins Game in the 2000s, plus the fact that the Mickelsons own a home at Madison Club in La Quinta, and Mickelson’s hosting of the American Express makes more sense.
“It’s always been an important part of my life. I would come out here and play junior tournaments here,” Mickelson said. “I’ve always been passionate about here, and I love the tournament itself. But more than that, this tournament has meant historically a lot to this area, and I want to bring back the vision of Bob Hope.”
Adding luster to the event
The tournament and the PGA Tour hope that Mickelson brings more to the tournament than just sharp iron play or a red-hot putter.
Jeff Sanders, executive director of the American Express event for tournament operator Lagardere Sports, says Mickelson’s fan base rivals Arnie’s Army, the devoted fans of Arnold Palmer, the only golfer to win the desert tournament more than twice. That popularity could translate into a higher profile for the event for professionals and fans.
“(Mickelson) is deeply committed to the charities in the Coachella Valley and promises to keep the money here,” Sanders said. “It’s not going anywhere. The money made on this tournament will stay in the valley.”
“He’s just so outgoing,” said Long, who played in the final round in the final group with Mickelson in the 2019 American Express. “He’ll just tell you stories without even asking him. He’s hilarious. You can’t help but stop and listen to him.”
Now five months from his 50th birthday, Mickelson’s best winning days may be behind him, and his world ranking slipped outside the top 50 in 2019 for the first time in 26 years. After an off-season that included missing a berth on a U.S. team – this one for the President Cup – for the first time in 24 Presidents or Ryder cups, Mickelson says he’s working hard to return to a winning form on the West Coast swing.
But Mickelson is also showing his fans a different side of himself with a Twitter series called “Phireside with Phil,” where he interviews family and friends or talks about his prodigious calves, often with tongue firmly set in his check.
Bringing back the days of Hope
Still, Mickelson showed in the 2019 season he remains a force, with the second-place finish in the American Express followed three weeks later by a win in the AT&T Pebble Beach tournament.
He’ll try to get back to the top of the leader board at the American Express, but he’ll do so with added duties of hosting parties, doing some appearances on television and other to-be-determined duties as host. Mickelson hopes his addition to the event along with American Express can upgrade one of the tour’s oldest and more historic tournaments.
“Our goal is to take the intention of Bob Hope 60 years ago and reignite that,” Mickelson said. “So the commitment to the community, the commitment to the charitable contributions, the commitment to the CEOs and (musical acts), and make it a unique experience. Because the celebrities give us a chance to expose golf to a lot of those who don’t normally play it.”
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